Han Dynasty Vs. Roman Empire

Hans vs. Romans

The Han Empire and the Roman Empire are very similar, but also different in other categories. The Han Chinese and the Romans put a huge emphasis on their government, trade, and beliefs. Both empires have remarkable military achievements as well and hold their people to a high standard.

Starting with the Romans and their basis of law they “summed up their political existence in a single phrase: “senatus populusque Romanus, “the Roman senate and the people.” The Romans did not believe in having single power, they thought of their political power as shared. “The three kinds of government, monarchy, aristocracy, and democracy, were all found united in the commonwealth of Rome.” (Thatcher) Rome based their power off of social divisions and the Aristocracy was in the hands of the Patricians. They were wealthy land owners who were apart of the affairs of the state, led the military in times of war, and exploited the knowledge of law and legal procedure. The Plebians were the common middle class people who still had a say in politics. Rome had Chief Magistrates that were made up of two consuls and were elected for one year terms. The Senate was the greatest institution that the Romans had established. When the magistrates changed out yearly the senate stayed and this offered Rome stability. The senate did not have the power to pass legislation, but they were able to offer their opinions and give advice. This form of government was called the Roman Republic.

The second era of Roman politics that followed the Republic was called the Roman Empire. The Empire controlled large territorial holdings in Europe and around the Mediterranean. The expansion of Rome was started during the Republic but during the extent of the Empire Rome reached its greatest extent under Emperor Trajan. He was able to control around 6.5 million kilometers of land during his reign. The power during this era was divided up between four co-emperors though, that were known as the tetrarchy.

The Han dynasty was different in how they established their government. After the power struggle Emperor Gaozu maintained most of the same government that was created by the Qin, but removed all of the hated attributes. Taxes were reduced, and in an effort to gain economic recovery he implemented laissez faire. The Han believed solely on Confucianism which stressed the “belief that human beings are teachable, improvable and perfectible through personal and communal endeavor, especially including self-cultivation and self-creation.” “The Confucious belief is what “separated Confucians and Legalists in this age of empire.” (Kuan 130) They also stress the importance of being virtuous and having strong ethics. The biggest difference between these establishments was that the Han government was a monarchy, and unlike the Romans it was created in a short period of time.

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